Tenth Sunday after Pentecost

Richard Davenport August 14, 2022 - Proper 15 Luke 12:49-53 If you ever stop to think about the impact Jesus has had on the world, the number of things that might come to mind, as well as things you probably never considered if you hadn't been intentionally thinking about it, can be pretty mind blowing. For instance, there isn't a major religion anywhere in the world that doesn't have something to say about who Jesus is. Muslims in the Middle East, Hindus in India, Buddhists in China and Japan, even Voodoo and related religions of Haiti and North Africa, as well as New Agers and spiritualists here at home, all have something to say about who Jesus is. I saw a book the other day that praised Jesus because he did something no one before him had really done, which is to show everyone he met how they were divine in their own way. Even atheists have explanations for who Jesus is. Jesus is a wise man. Jesus is a teacher. Jesus is a revolutionary. C. S. Lewis, who is praised for his theological writing, started out as an atheist. It was only because of his thinking on the nature and work of Jesus that he came to faith later in life. Some of those religions were around before the birth of Christ. As missionaries carried the Gospel to the east and shared it through Asia, the religions there had to figure out what to do with this man named Jesus who had made such a profound impact. The religions that came about afterward already knew they had to make Jesus fit into their religion. Christianity even pushed out the Greek and Roman religions as well as most of the folk religions of Europe and did so well at it that Jesus was worshiped throughout Europe from the 4th Century on. It wasn't until the 16-1700's and the rise of atheistic science and philosophy that the slow descent of Christianity began, leaving Europe today largely heathen. Atheists still can't deny the power of Jesus. They may not acknowledge him as God or worship him, but there is no denying how Jesus single handedly changed the course of history throughout the world. Even though atheists reject Jesus as Lord, the world as a whole would not look the way it does today without the work of those who have worshiped him. Gregor Mendel was an Augustinian monk when he began the experiments that would provide the foundation for the entire field of genetics. Roger Bacon was a Franciscan friar when he published the work that would form the basis for the scientific method that is generally used today, the process that guides scientific experimentation to provide consistent and provable results. Galileo and Copernicus, who overturned thousands of years of astronomical beliefs, were each Christian; Copernicus was even Lutheran. All of that is just looking at science, and even there just a small part of it. Artists of all sorts also bring the light of Christ into the world. The classic Italian painters and sculptors, such as Michelangelo, put their theological knowledge into graphic form as some of the most iconic and well-known artistic pieces in the world. The baroque composers also are just one cluster of musicians whose compositions have influenced music in every century since. Many of them also Christians who delighted in giving the Gospel a musical voice. The world itself reflects the impact Jesus has had on it. Christmas is celebrated in many countries around the world, even those that are not predominately Christian and some that never have been. The name Jesus, or native variations of it have been common male names in many cultures for hundreds of years. Even the dating system that is used throughout the world is a testimony to the life of Jesus. Though officially it used to be AD, for Anno Domini, the Year of Our Lord, and has been changed in most public spaces to CE, for common era, it still remains that whenever someone writes a date with 202 they are making a statement that it has been 2022 years since the birth of Jesus. Though that number is believed now to be off a little bit, its purpose remains. The birth of Jesus changed the world in such fundamental ways that nothing will ever be the same again. It might seem like all of that might have changed over the last 2000 years, but it hasn't really. There are still many false religions around, some new, some that have been around for centuries and some for millennia. Everyone has an explanation for who Jesus is and what the purpose of his teaching was. All are explanations that have been around for hundreds of years in one form or another. All revolve around which parts of his teachings you listen to and accept and which you reject for one reason or another. There are a great many teachings about Jesus, beyond just the historical fact that he was a man who lived around 2000 years ago. Reading through the record of him in Scripture, transcribed by apostles and evangelists, he calls himself a teacher, he appears also as a healer and miracle worker. He is also described as the messiah and one who saved from sin and death. He is referred to as the Holy One of God and even is worshiped as God himself. The Gospels say he died on the cross outside Jerusalem and came back to life again a couple days later. Did he really say all of the things the Scriptures claim he said or do the things it claims he did? What about the writers who came before and after him, is what they said about him also true? How do we understand many of the things he said and did? Many of the themes, prophecies, and promises that involve him could be understood in a number of ways. He's described as a savior, but a savior from what? What does sin mean? What does love mean? Many of you have grown up in the church, whether as Lutherans or as something else. Have you ever really thought about words like sin, love, salvation, and all of the other words we use here all of the time? The way you might use words like that is probably not how others use them. When we look at how much Jesus has influenced the world and changed everything, it seems very natural that everyone else sees him the same way we do. Why tell people about Jesus when the world already knows about Jesus? They know he lived. They know he's the savior. They know he'll forgive their sins. What Jesus says in the Gospel reading for today is a little shocking. He turns around everyone's expectations. He's expected to bring love and peace. The prophecies even say he'll bring peace, just as the Bible also says he's the physical representation of God's love for all creation, in places like John 3:16. God is supposed to be a God of peace and love, but here Jesus says he is anything but. Jesus comes to bring division. Anger and violence will be the way of things for his followers. Many people think Jesus is a warm, fuzzy guy who loves everything and everyone and who comes to mellow everyone out like a 2000 year old hippie. But here he clearly says that's not the case at all. The Gospels even show him constantly on the move throughout his ministry and many places he goes he's saying things to people that sound quite mean. He calls attention to sins wherever he sees them. He doesn't talk about things like free love and just chillin' out. The sin needs to be dealt with and often that means some harsh and unpleasant words and actions. Sometimes that means even yelling and creating some chaos by throwing things around, as he does at the temple. No, if you accept that the Gospels describe the life of the man named Jesus, then you either take it all or you take nothing. The Bible as a whole, and Jesus in particular, never sugarcoats sin. Sin is evil. Jesus, the Son of God, does not come to earth to get along with evil and make everyone happy in spite of sin. Jesus, the savior of the world, comes to earth to destroy sin utterly. All sin, everywhere. If a person is determined to hold fast to their sins and revels in them, then they too will find they are not receiving peace, but God's perfect justice and the wrath that goes with it. It's easy to confuse how God will be with his people in his eternal kingdom with God as he acts in the world today. But the Bible never puts things out of order. Yes, God is a God of love, grace, peace, and all of the other things that he is described as. Jesus comes to bring all of those things to earth and pour them out on his people. But all of that can only truly happen when sin is gone and can't get in the way anymore. Jesus calls on his followers here to remember what his death and resurrection were for. We must recognize how we misunderstand Jesus' life and ministry and how we fail to bring that to others who think they know Jesus but tragically do not. The church has a mission to share Jesus with the world, but it must be the whole Jesus and not just the parts that sound good to us. That means we share God's justice and wrath against sin, but we also share God's grace and forgiveness given to those who repent. Both messages are necessary. The justice and wrath are not things people want to hear about. They want a God who will be content with them just as they are, sin and all. The resistance many will have to God's justice will set them against the faithful, even those in their own family. Divisions are inevitable because many will refuse to give up their sins. But we also have that privilege of sharing God's grace, the same grace he gives to us every time we repent. That's the message that the church alone can share and the message we have received. The God of peace and love is there, but he is found only through the grace and mercy that comes through sins forgiven and destroyed. The society of peace and love is there too, but it comes only to the people who have had their sins wiped away. Others can be their too, but only through the message of Jesus, the complete message.